ANYWAY Eurovision was on over the weekend! This is an event that I look forward to and have been watching for about 8 years now without fail. If you've never seen it, you should definitely get onto that Euro-train. For an example of what Eurovision is all about, try this video out for size:

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I'll give you a minute to recover from the awesomeness of what you just watched.

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We good? Okay ^^ So, here's a bit of a rundown of semi final 1 (like...3 days late!) with the others to follow in a separate posting.

1. Austria- ShineHer hair is freakin' cool and suits her so well. I like the little "ohoh" in the background and the song is actually pretty cool overall. The thing annoying me about this act is her pants. Are they denim? Are they silver? I just don't know what's real any more!

2. Estonia - Et Uus Saaks AlguseAt first I thought my tv had lost its colour, but apparently they put special effects in the video feed now (well, it worked out well for Loreen last year). Song is pretty dull; I like that she's singing in her own language - there's too little of that in Eurovision. Her dress is freakin' ginormous and apparently she's pregnant. All I want to know is HOW pregnant but it's impossible to tell with that gown.

3. Slovenia - Straight Into LoveAll black leather, a classic Eurovision look! I like her fish-scale like thing across the shoulders- if only it was possible to pull that stuff off on a day to day basis, because I would be all over it. The dancers are alright but are they really so bad that they have to hide all their faces at the start? Her singing is a little flat at some points which is a bit uncomfortable to listen to.

4. Croatia- MizerjaA whole bunch of men of various profession singing a lovely song. Not a standout, but by no means bad.

5. Denmark - Only TeardropsIt's easy to see why this is the favourite, it's so catchy and she's so cute looking; I love it when she smiles at the camera. The first time I heard it I wasn't really a fan but every time I've listened to it since it has really grown on me. Plus tin whistles in songs are my weak spot so there's massive points for that!

6. Russia - What ifMeh, another "why can't we all get along?" song. One of those is nice every now and then and I respect that they have good intent, but can't it be a little happier sounding? She looks like an older selena gomez and her dress is pretty meh.

So many power ballads in this semi final and it was really wearing on me as I watched it. They should at least try and break it up with something dancey every now and then.

7. Ukraine - GravityThought it was very dull during the first watch. I like what they did with the set up of the set and the giant (hodor, hodor) bringing her on, but they didn't use that at all afterwards. Should've been goblins coming out of the mist or SOMETHING. Very gimmicky feeling overall, and she looks longing at her hand too often.

8. The Netherlands - BirdsI completely forgot that this song was even in the contest. Very forgettable amongst all the other ballads.

9. Montenegro - IgrankaRapping astronauts and a screechy female singer interlude. This is what Eurovision is about and I love it. Devastated that they didn't get through to the grand final! You would have thought that amongst mostly ballads this would've stood out and given it a bit more variety but apparently Europe disagrees :<

10. Lithuania - SomethingHa, this guy looks so very high on some sort of drug throughout the entire performance. It seems ironic that one of the lines is "because of my shoes" and yet he doesn't move his feet through the entire thing. Unfortunately, he was probably one of the best looking male performers this year.

11. Belarus- SolayohSomeone coming out of a giant disco ball? Drink! Song was pretty average and poppy sounding, but you've got to give her props for wearing a dress like that. I spent most of the time wondering how it was possible that I couldn't see her underwear when she was wearing it.

How come all of the female performers have flawless legs? Do they wear stockings or put makeup on them or something?

12. Moldova - O MieMy first favourite of this year. Love the dress, the funky hair, love that Parsha Parfeny is back again and I'll be damned if she doesn't miss a single note in the entire song despite them being so powerful. Something about the chorus grips me every time. Love it.

13. Ireland- Only Love SurvivesHe looks like a member of Jersey Shore. The tattooed drummers are a nice touch and give it a lot of energy - they do some chicken dance thing during the chorus xD It really irks me when people do that stupid hand-heart thing. Ugh. I honestly think that Jedward should be back, I can't believe I'm saying this, but they were more entertaining.

14. Cyprus- An me thimasaiHer dress is pretty amazing although it'd be better if it wasn't a nude colour. It's a tad like lingerie without the middle bit. Another ballad for the song. Eh. Entirely forgettable, if I'm honest.

15. Belgium- Love KillsWhy are the dancers wearing evening/club dresses? Their costumes should better reflect their dance style. The singer has quite a creepy stare on him. Eesh.

Tibbers had a difficult morning at the vet yesterday. It was her first appointment with us and she was a little freaked out at actually being out of our back yard to begin with! She had to get 2 shots, a big pill and a nasal spray for various doggy-diseases. She took them well (more interested in the treats she was given to distract her from the actual injection...anyone would think we didn't feed her enough given the speed at which she scoffed them!). We also booked her in for de-sexing in a few months time as per the arrangement for adopting her! She loved the vet himself and kept trying to lick him while he was writing notes on her file. He said it was a good thing that she was so friendly towards people as when she goes in for her de-sexing operation she'd get to see lots of people and it'd make the day a lot more enjoyable for her.

There was a little bit of an issue with another dog in the waiting room. A little terrier came in and was very aggressive, barking and growling, towards the other dogs; making Tibbers a little antsy. But she did socialise well with another dog. Oddly enough, it's owner was a young couple (probably around our age, from appearances) who had bought it around the same time we got Tibbers. Even the dog itself was a Kelpie Staffy X, the same as her, but with more staffy than kelpie in it. We had a great chat to them about how their pup had been since they got it and shared stories about howling/chewing/barking while the dogs sniffed at each other. It's kind of unfortunate that we didn't get their contact details or anything because it would've been great to give the puppies some time to play with each other (seeing as they're at the same vaccination stages) and socialise a little more. I'm a bit worried about how Tibbers is going to get along with other dogs...

We got her a few lamb bones from the butcher today (seriously, don't ever buy them from pet stores...the ones there are dry as heck, expensive and have little nutritional value left) for $2 and she's been chewing the crap out of it in the yard for the past 2 hours.

i forgot what day we're up to >> Maybe I should just change the title to "part 1" and so on!

Tibbers is doing well. She's discovered that she can cool herself down by walking on the side of her water bowl and tipping it over, then rolling in it. Good for her, but it means I have to refill her water all the time >> She gets her final round of shots in about 4 days and then we'll be able to take her outside! Wah-hey! Need to ask the vet about all her worming medication as well (we haven't given her anything and are a little confused about what is written on her vaccination record). Still, she seems healthy enough. She's figured out the art of digging holes in our backyard. I haven't yet decided whether or not to fill her attempted escape route into the neighbours yard or just to let her continue in vain. She finds flies absolutely fascinating and will sit dead still and stare at them until they fly away, whereupon she snaps at them to try and catch one. Anyway, it's good that she's started to entertain herself when we're not outside!

This weekend both my parents and Will's parents came to visit (they live in different towns to us). I was a little worried about what my Dad would think...he was vehemently against us getting a dog in case Will and I broke up or wanted to go on a holiday. I understand that it's a big responsibility, but she's happy, well fed and well loved instead of being in a shelter so I think it's worth it. Plus we've got plans for all those circumstances! If we go away, she goes to Will's parents (who have another dog and offered to look after her whenever we like) and if we (god forbid) break up then Will keeps her as I work FIFO (fly in, fly out), meaning I work away for a week and then return home for a week. Nonetheless, my Dad just adored her. I think he misses having a playful puppy around. The dog mum and dad have at home (and who I grew up with) is now 16 years old and has arthritis, is almost blind and deaf...so she's not particularly playful any more! He spent a good half hour getting Tibbers to chase him around the backyard and letting her win at tug of war (something Will and I don't do too often as some dogs see victory as dominance over the pack and no longer behave as well!). My mum just wanted to sit on the couch snuggling and patting Tibbers until she fell asleep. Will's Mum (his Dad is away fighting a bushfire at the moment) and second youngest brother lavished her with dog toys, a new training leash and lots of pats.

It's been a pretty exciting weekend for a little puppy and she's spent most of today sleeping!

I can't believe it's almost been a week since we picked little Tibbers up! There was a very large thunderstorm last night; the weather report has been predicting it for the last 4 days and it FINALLY hit >> I woke up at 3am to the sound of thunder booming outside. My first thought was along the lines of "eep!!", but the second was for Tibbers. We weren't really sure how she'd react to a thunderstorm...would she be petrified and run away scared? Would she just take it all in her stride? I hopped out of bed and darted outside (a little scared myself, I might add) and the dog jumped up to greet me. The sky was a dirty yellow-brown colour and you could clearly see the storm clouds approaching. I picked up Tibbers' pillow, dragged it into the laundry, propped the door open a little (in case she had to go out to do her business at some point) and sat down, leaning against the washing machine, with her while she settled down. All the while, thunder was booming, the sky would flash every few seconds and the wind was picking up. When it broke, it really broke. Suddenly it was pouring with rain (not 5 minutes after bringing Tibbers in) and bordering on hail; thunder and lightning occurring almost simultaneously and the wind howling.

All the while, Tibbers was relatively unphased. In fact, I think I was more freaked out than she was! She took an interest as soon as it started raining as the sound of the rain smacking against the tin roof was something she's been unfamiliar with thus far. She sat next to the door and looked outside with her ears pricked and turned her head this way and that trying to ascertain the location of the sound. Tibbers even stepped outside, until she realised it made her wet. Eventually she essentially shrugged it off and snuggled down next to me to sleep. I snuck up and wandered back to bed myself and was met with Will mumbling something unintelligible about bringing the couch inside so it wouldn't get wet?

Very proud of the puppy! Anyway, there's more but it's late and I'm just buggered for some reason...so time for bed!

Little Tibbers has come a long way since her first whingy day at home! Now she hardly ever cries and whines unless you're standing near to door and she can see you ignoring her! Doesn't even howl at night any more. She's started pulling bits of the garden apart in her boredom (ie. whenever we're not playing with her). Yesterday I heard her bark a couple of times (she's not a very barky dog, so it was a little strange). I crept out to the glass door and peered around the curtains to spy the furry little maniac seemingly being chased by invisible puppies around the shed. Chuckling, I snuck back to my desk. An hour or so later I wandered outside to give her some attention and it was apparent that she'd found a stick somewhere and had torn it to shreds all over the backyard. We're still picking pieces out of the pillow that she sleeps in! What's a little more worrying is that she keeps knocking over her water bowl. She keeps standing in it with her front paws and then trying to dig it up or something...gah! Maybe she's just trying to cool down? It's like 35C today after all.

She still gives Will "kisses", ie. she licks his face like crazy! Probably because he's the only one that puts up with it; every time she starts on mine I can't help but reflexively push her away. We also found another tick on Tibbers' ear =/ So we pulled it off her and went out to find some anti tick stuff to put on her neck. She absolutely hates having to sit still and having her head held...she struggles like you wouldn't believe! To make up for it, we bought her one of those kong toys? I'd read all about them when looking up puppy information and everyone was suggesting them as boredom busters. We bought a little one (man those things are expensive!) and filled it with peanut butter and some of her biscuits. She's been licking and chasing it around the backyard for a good hour now, so they certainly are effective!

Tibbers is doing much better today! She's not howling, whining or scratching at the door nearly as much and she's stopped jumping up on people so much. In fact, most of today she's been sleeping! I was a little worried at first, but she is technically a baby still, so it's not abnormal for puppies to sleep a ton! Just so long as she wakes up to play every now and then. Tibbers didn't howl as much last night either. It only took her a few minutes to become tuckered out and fall asleep outside our bedroom door.

There was a bit of an issue with a tick on her ear this morning. Will found it when giving her a scratch so we got some tweezers out and tried to hold her still to pull it out. Every time we gripped her head she'd squirm, cry and try her hardest to get out of it. We were worried that Tibbers would end up choking herself while we got it off her! Paul, our roommate, eventually grabbed a towel (as we were considering taking her to the vet), bundled her up in it and held her tight while I pried the tick off her. She seems alright now, after a couple of treats she perked right up, poor thing! We even let her come inside for a while (she's supposed to be primarily an outside dog) to calm her down. She fell asleep under my desk on top of my feet and even snored a little! We're trying to figure out where she got the tick from...we've never had them at our house before and she's not allowed outside our backyard as she hasn't yet had her last parvo-virus shot (which she gets in about 2 weeks time). Without the shot she could pick up the illness and die pretty easily so we're REALLY vigilant about her activity. We think she might have picked up the tick from her previous home (at the shelter) or from the crate they brought her in on the plane. It's still sitting (partially squashed) on the table outside just in case she gets sick and they need to identify the type of tick (there's some that cause paralysis in dogs).

Tibbers also had a case of the hiccups earlier. We've been starting out mornings by having a cup of coffee and sitting outside with her and her energetic morning playfulness! She started making "hup" noises...sort of like before dogs throw up? I thought that Tibbers was going to throw up but after a few minutes it went away. I think she actually scared herself as whenever she hiccuped she'd jump and look around! Speaking of scaring herself, we have a crosstrainer in our lounge and yesterday when Paul was exercising on it she flat out refused to come inside. She stood at the door and just watched it with her ears and tail up, completely mesmerised! Eventually she took a couple of cautious steps towards it but ran back outside.

I've got an entire facebook album dedicated to pictures of her now. I don't want to be one of those people that constantly posts pictures of their pets or babies and expects millions of comments. They're just there as a record of her growth...and...cuteness.

Yesterday we picked up our new puppy from the airport. We'd been looking for a while around all of the pet shops in our area but all of the dogs were $600 to $1200 and not the breed that we wanted =/ So we looked online and found a website that listed puppies from an organisation called SAFE (Save Animals From Euthanasia). We found a little puppy we liked the look of, called the lady currently caring for her and she' turned out to be pretty much exactly what we wanted. When we arrived at the airport, the staff brought her out in a little transport cage. As soon as he saw her, Will (my long term boyfriend) said "Hello puppy" and her tail just started whacking against the sides of the crate. That was a good sign! The one thing we were most concerned about, in terms of getting a dog off the internet without meeting it first, was her personality and whether or not she'd be happy and playful after being kept in a shelter for the past 8 weeks.

So we brought her home (me trying to hold a VERY excited puppy still in the back seat of the car) and she had a wander around and began to do a big wee on our porch. Will swiftly picked her up and carried her over to the grass, still peeing, to let her finish her business. Luckily, the next time she went was in the dirt behind the shed! Little scamp has already pooped several times and, unlike our last pup who pooped in the doorway to a bedroom xD, both times have been on the grass. SUCCESS!! We're trying to teach her "No" as soon as possible...She doesn't quite understand it yet, but she'll get there in the next few days. Little Tibbers is a Kelpie cross, which are used in Australia as sheep dogs and are very quick learners, which will be good for teaching her tricks!

Last night was a bit of a challenge. We put her in the laundry and she just howled when there was no-one else with her. I ended up sitting down in there with her and she was asleep in no time! However around 4am she woke up and started howling and whining. Will got up and that calmed her down a bit. Even now she's just not used to being alone and away from other puppies. She whines, howls and scratches at the door but after 5-10 minutes she calms down and goes to play with her elephant toy, which she just LOVES.

There was quite a funny moment yesterday when she first discovered her rattle ball. We rolled it for her and she just stared at stared at it. Eventually she poked at it with one of her paws and it rolled and rattled a few cm. Immediately Tibbers jumped back with her ears and tail up and started circling the ball, not understanding what it was. I picked it up and rolled it a few more times until she got the idea. Now she just has the best time pushing it around. All her toys she carries back to her spot under the table to chew on.

I'm quite excited at the moment! Flying out to Los Angeles tomorrow for my first visit to the United States. It all started a few months ago when I decided that after 3 years of studying hard that I wanted to go overseas on a holiday before starting work full time. So I dragged The Boy down to a travel agent and 2 days later we'd booked the flights. It was that fast! And now the time to jet off to another country has finally arrived; not that it's the first (and hopefully not the last) time that I get to fly overseas. I've been all over with my parents and even on student exchange in Japan for a month when I was in high school. However, it is the first time I'll be heading to the United States and Canada. I'm mostly worried about the tipping thing...as much useful advice that I get, I don't think it'll really sink in until I'm over there doing it! I just hope I don't mess up and accidentally insult someone by tipping incorrectly >>

In other news, I just got my computer back today. I'm not sure how many of the people reading this (if any!) saw or knew that about a week ago my PC decided to cark it. I'd just finished up 3 weeks of hard exam study...I had 2 exams on the last day of the examination period and I was SO LOOKING FORWARD to finally sitting down, cracking a cold beer and playing games guilt-free to my hearts content! But I got home and it wouldn't turn on, instead. Was working perfectly in the morning...I tried pulling out the power cord, trying a new one, trying a different power point and flicking the switch a few times but there wasn't a lick of power getting through. After trying to get it just to start up and simply get an error code or SOMETHING I ended up taking it to the local PLE store last Thursday. Finally today they texted me saying it was ready. Turns out the problem was just a dodgy power supply that had to be replaced =/

Oh well, at least I have it back now! Just in time to leave it for three more weeks :(

So, second blog post! Who would've thought I'd write another one? (certainly not me, I can tell you!) Anyway, I was just looking through some old pictures of mine and came across a little gem in my collection. I know that there's this whole stigma about gamer girls and whatnot and how we're all either actually guys or the equivalent of a horses' backside. I like to think I'm not the latter..or the former, come to think of it! I don't want to get into the whole "girls can play games too, GRRR" kind of rant, because it's been done hundreds of times before and frankly, I could be spending that time actually PLAYING games than whinging about playing them!

Erm...well I'm kind of losing track of where this blog post is actually going, or where it was even supposed to go in the first place, but isn't a blog just supposed to be random musing and happenings? Obviously not at a precise second in time (like the headlights that just shined through the window indicating that a roommate has arrived home and now I'm wondering who it is...) that'd just get boring after a while, surely.

Well I'd like to apologise for this post. It's not really going anywhere or looks to be going anywhere. So here's a picture of a puppy.

So Comic-Con 2011 has just been running and I've been watching a whole bunch of youtube videos of some of the discussions, games and various sights to see. It makes me think...oh boy ,oh boy, do I wish I was there. I know it might sound a little lame but one of my dreams is to one day go to a big comic convention and nerd it out with my fellow geeks. There just aren't opportunities available in my city to actually attend a big convention the likes of which are hosted in the USA. I think the last "big" thing was the guy that played Draco Malfoy in Harry Potter came and signed autographs and that sort of thing just isn't up my alley! I want to talk to the people that live and breathe the industry that I hold close to my heart. The ones that I genuinely care about and have an active interest in. I love to learn and I think that I could get so much out of the experience of a large convention.

The problem is that expo's like E3 are gradually becoming more exclusive. Perhaps "exclusive" isn't really the right word there...but they're becoming more about the exposure than the experience. It seems the only way in is a press pass! I don't work for any company with a vested interest in the gaming industry so there go my chances! It saddens me for now but I'm an optimist. One day I will be there. One day I will shake Joss Whedon by the hand. One day I'll be able to experience upcoming games from the franchises I love. Whether it be by a press pass, a guest pass or even dressed up in a short skirt and shirt; I don't mind! I just want to be there. To experience it first hand. To be THAT person.